Plate for conveyors employing sliding plates

ABSTRACT

A plate for conveyors employing sliding plates has longitudinal ribs and grooves on its upper face and on at least one terminal portion of its lower face for sliding in the grooves and on the ribs of the upper face of the adjacent lower plate. The grooves of the lower face are directly beneath the ribs of the upper face. The upper part of the plate above the lower terminal portion has a top chamfer so that the top chamfer above the lower plate forms a continuous surface for each of two successive upper ribs and a lower rib which they straddle. Each upper groove is situated between two successive continuous surfaces and the corresponding lower rib terminates in a common lower chamfer situated below the continuous surfaces so that the plates are engaged in each other while forming a horizontal surface adjacent ingress and/or egress stationary rakes of the conveyor. The construction provides in every two grooves a passage for the teeth of the rakes through these plates above their lower chamfers.

United States Patent [191 Patin PLATE FOR CONVEYORS EMPLOYING SLIDING PLATES [76] Inventor: Pierre Patin,.58 rue de Sevres, 92

Boulogne-sur-Seine, France [22] Filed: July 8, 1971 [21] Appl.No.: 160,759

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data July 21, 1970 France ..7026850 [52] US. Cl. ..l98/16 R, 104/20 [51] Int. Cl ..A63g 1/00, B66b 9/12 [58] Field of Search ..198/l6 MS, 16-18,

[ 56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,583,543 6/1971 Angioletti ..l98/l6 MS Primary Examiner-Edward A. Sroka Attorney-Cameron, Kerkam & Sutton 5 7 1 ABSTRACT A plate for conveyors employing sliding plates has longitudinal ribs and grooves on its upper face and on at least one terminal portion of its lower face for sliding in the grooves and on the ribs of the upper face of the adjacent lower plate. The grooves of the lower face are directly beneath the ribs of the upper face. The upper part of the plate above the lower terminal portion has a top chamfer so that the top chamfer above the lower plate forms a continuous surface for each of two successive upper ribs and a lowerrib which they straddle. Each upper groove is situated between two successive continuous surfaces and the corresponding lower rib terminates in a common lower chamfer situated below the continuous surfaces so that the plates are engaged in each other while forming a horizontal surface adjacent ingress and/or egress stationary rakes of the conveyor. The construction provides in every two grooves a passage for the teeth of the rakes through these plates above their lower chamfers.

3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 1 PLATE FOR CONVEYORS EMPLOYING SLIDING PLATES In the case of conveyors of the travelling carpet type, more particularly of the variable speed type, it has already been envisaged to employ overlapping adjacent plates forming the passenger supporting surface and arranged to slide with respect to each other in the direction of displacement. Moreover, these plates disengage from each other by any known means prior to any curvilinear travel and particularly return travel.

According to a known form of embodiment, each plate is provided with longitudinal parallel ribs and grooves on its upper face and on at least the leading portion of its lower face, on this latter forming a comb sliding in the grooves and on the ribs at the top of the adjacent lower plate, the leading portion of the plate terminating in a transversal chamfer limited to the bearing edge of its lower grooves and beyond which projects its lower ribs which are equally bevel cut transversally on their upper face. In such an embodiment, the presence of these projections does not render it possible to contain a horizontal surface close to the stationary ingress and egress rakes of the conveyor through the areas of minimum speed of the conveyor. Consequently, owing to the resulting unevenness of the passenger supporting surface through said areas, retaining balance by the passengers at the entrance and exit of the conveyor is difficult. Moreover, if the bearing edges of the lower grooves do not come into contact with the upper surface of the ribs of the lower plate, there is a risk of damaging the users shoes by impact of of the soles, heels or toes against these edges.

The present invention consists in a plate for conveyors employing sliding plates, of the kind comprising parallel longitudinal ribs and grooves on its upper face and on at least one terminal portion of its lower face for sliding in the grooves and on the ribs of the upper face of the adjacent lower plate, the grooves of the lower face being in plumb with the ribs of the upper face, the upper part of this plate situated above this lower terminal portion terminating in a top chamfer, wherein the top chamfer above the lower plate forms continuous surfaces affecting each of two successive upper ribs and the lower rib they straddle, each upper groove situated between two successive continuous surfaces and the corresponding lower rib terminating in a common lower chamfer situated below these continuous surfaces, in such manner that these plates are engaged in each other whilst forming a horizontal surface adjacent ingress and/or egress stationary rakes of the conveyor whilst providing in every two grooves a passage for the teeth of these rakes through these plates above their lower chamfers.

In this way, if the bearing edges of the lower grooves bearing on the ribs of the lower plate do not come into contact with the upper surface of these ribs, owing to the small width of the ribs and grooves, the users shoes 7 are borne on the continuous surfaces thus produced, reducing the risk of damage by protrusion of said bearing edges over the ribs of the lower plate. Moreover, the presence of the continuous surfaces formed by the upper chamfers renders it possible to engage the plate to produce a horizontal surface in the areas of minimum speed close to the ingress and egress rakes whereby the safety is insured of the person at the entrance and exit of the conveyor by enabling them to retain their balance.

In the accompanying drawings, which show by way of example one convenient mode of the invention:

FIG. 1 is a partial longitudinal section of a conveyor equipped with sliding plates according to the invention, in the egress area of the conveyor,

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a part of the conveyor shown in FIGS. 1 on a reduced scale,

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view of FIG. 1 taken along the line III-J11,

FIG. 4 is a partial view in perspective of two overlapping adjacent plates of the conveyor of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 5 is a plan view of overlapping plates for negotiating a curved high-speed area of the conveyor.

The conveyor according to this invention employing overlapping sliding plates, more specifically intended for carriage of passengers, over at least a part of its trajectory (FIG. 1) comprises successive solid plates 1 of analogous structure. Each plate 1 is provided on its upper face and on at least the leading portion of its lower face with ribs 2, 3 and grooves 4, 5 which are longitudinal and parallel (FIGS. 3 and 4). The ribs 3 and grooves 5 of the lower face form a comb arranged to slide in the upper grooves 4 disposed laterally with respect to each continuous surface 6 and on the upper ribs 2 of the adjacent overlapped lower plate la.

The leading portion of each plate 1 terminates (FIGS. 1 and 4) in a chamfer which above the lower plate la forms continuous surface 6 each of which affects two successive upper ribs 2 and the lower rib 3 they straddle. The two upper grooves 4 and their corresponding lower ribs 5 are also chamfered at 7 to a lower level than that of the continuous surface 6 to allow of passage of the teeth 8 of the ingress and egress stationary rakes 9 (FIGS. 1 and 2) of the conveyor.

The result of this arrangement is that if the bearing edges 10 of the grooves 5 intended to bear on the ribs 2 of the lower plate In (FIG. 4) do not come into contact with the upper surface of these ribs, owing to the small width of the ribs and grooves, smaller than 5 mms as a rule, the user shoes remain borne by the continuous surfaces 6 without risk of damage by impact against said bearing edges which protrude over the ribs of the lower plate.

Each plate conventionally are fastened to a bracket 11 traversed by a spindle 12 is adapted to be connected by this spindle, in a known way, to a variable speed driving mechanism, under whose action said plates slide on each other whilst moving apart in the acceleration areas and moving closer in the areas of deceleration. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the lower ribs 3 preferably occupy no more than the leading portion of the lower face of the plate 1 in order to reduce translatory friction. The ribs are slightly chamfered longitudinally at 13 at the extremities to give them a lead-in for return movements. The plate illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4, wherein the continuous plane surfaces 6 end by a longitudinal straight portion, is utilized for a conveyor having a straight path. If the conveyor must follow a curved trajectory, notably in the high speed areas, the extremities of the upper ribs 2 and lower ribs 3, as illustrated in FIG. 5, are slightly tapered at 14 and 15 in such manner as to allow of slight rotation of the plates I relative to each other in said high-speed areas of the conveyor in which these plates interpenetrate over small lengths only.

Close to the ingress and egress stationary rakes 9 of the conveyor, the plates 1 displaced at their minimum speed are liable to completely overlap due to the presence of the chamfers 6 as illustrated in FIG. 1, which form an almost horizontal surface, the chamfers 7 being parallel to the chamfers 6 and the lower surface of the rakes 9 are horizontal. It results from this fact that, on the one hand, the safety of the passengers is insured at the entrance and exit of the conveyor enabling the passengers to preserve their balance owing to the resulting passenger planiform supporting surface and, on the other hand, passages are provided for the teeth of the ingress and egress stationary rakes without risk of deformation of these teeth.

Without exceeding the scope of the invention, the direction of displacement of the plates could evidently advantageously be the opposite to that known for the plates which are improved by the present invention, the leading edge thus becoming the trailing edge of the plate.

What I claim is:

l. A plate for variable speed conveyors employing sliding and overlapping adjacent plates forming the passenger supporting surface, of the kind conventionally provided with parallel longitudinal ribs and grooves on its upper face and on one of the terminal portions of its lower face plumb below said upper ribs and grooves respectively with grooves and ribs for sliding on the ribs and in the grooves of the upper face of the adjacent lower plate the upper part of said plate situated above this lower terminal portion terminating in a top chamfer, wherein said top chamfer forms continuous plane surfaces each of which affects two successive upper ribs of the plate and the corresponding lower rib they straddle while each upper groove of the plate situated between two successive continuous plane surfaces and the corresponding lower rib terminate in a common lower chamfer parallel to said top chamfer and situated below these continuous plane surfaces, whereby the overlapping plates form a continuous horizontal supporting surface through the areas of minimum speed of the conveyor close to the ingress and egress rakes thereof while providing in every two upper grooves a passage for the teeth of these rakes through these plates above their lower chamfers, eliminating any risk of damage to the toes and heels of the users shoes.

2. A plate for conveyors as claimed in claim 1, wherein freestanding longitudinal edges of the ribs are slightly chamfered.

3. A plate for conveyors as claimed in claim 1, wherein the extremities of the upper and lower ribs at the end of the top and lower chamfers are slightly tapered in such manner that the conveyor can follow a curved path. 

1. A plate for variable speed conveyors employing sliding and overlapping adjacent plates forming the passenger supporting surface, of the kind conventionally provided with parallel longitudinal ribs and grooves on its upper face and on one of the terminal portions of its lower face plumb below said upper ribs and grooves respectively with grooves and ribs for sliding on the ribs and in the grooves of the upper face of the adjacent lower plate the upper part of said plate situated above this lower terminal portion terminating in a top chamfer, wherein said top chamfer forms continuous plane surfaces each of which affects two successive upper ribs of the plate and the corresponding lower rib they straddle while each upper groove of the plate situated between two successive continuous plane surfaces and the corresponding lower rib terminate in a common lower chamfer parallel to said top chamfer and situated below these continuous plane surfaces, whereby the overlapping plates form a continuous horizontal supporting surface through the areas of minimum speed of the conveyor close to the ingress and egress rakes thereof while providing in every two upper grooves a passage for the teeth of these rakes through these plates above their lower chamfers, eliminating any risk of damage to the toes and heels of the users'' shoes.
 2. A plate for conveyors as claimed in claim 1, wherein freestanding longitudinal edges of the ribs are slightly chamfered.
 3. A plate for conveyors as claimed in claim 1, wherein the extremities of the upper and lower ribs at the end of the top and lower chamfers are slightly tapered in such manner that the conveyor can follow a curved path. 